3rd Of July at Epcot

The kids got out of the pool this afternoon only to find a dinosaur sized turtle munching on weeds just outside the pool enclosure.

On the way to Florida, Linda inhaled chemicals at a Burger King that made her ill. Now, she is suffering cold symptoms that I relate to what happened at Burger King. Who goes to Florida in the summer and catches a cold? Her journey though the greatest place on earth is accompanied with a sinus headache and cough.

I have heard that Epcot does an incredible July 4 fireworks show, and I heard they do the show on July 3 too. Since we plan to see the SciFi Fireworks in Celebration on the 4th, we decided to go to Epcot today. One of the best places to watch the fireworks is France. So we parked at Boardwalk so we could enter through the back gate.

There was a storm so we decided to catch the boat. As we waited for the boat my youngest said "It is thunder and lightening out and we are standing on a metal dock!" OK, not the smartest thing. But that didn't prevent us from waiting 20 minutes on that metal dock for a boat that never came.

We gave up waiting for the boat and hiked into Epcot. After passing through the gate the skies opened and it really down poured. We jumped into a shop and paid $34 four four ponchos that would have cost $8 anywhere else.


I find it funny that Disney puts out signs on the sidewalks when it rains that says "Warning, the floor may be wet". You think? Maybe? When we are outside in the rain I don't think we need to be told it is wet!

As soon as we put the ponchos on it stopped raining. That is just how it always goes with us. Our wet ponchos got folded up and put into our backpack.

We headed over to France to grab wet table and chairs and to settle in for the long wait for illuminations.

The show started and was spectacular. There is a giant tree on an island blocking our view of the globe, but I have been told the tree is purposefully placed there to deal with the lasers. I watched to see if that were true and I couldn't tell. If that is the reason for growing these trees, couldn't they have used smaller trees? The tree completely blocked our view of the globe - not that you can really see what is on the globe anyway. I think the globe needs some reimaginaring refurbishment. If they can animate Cinderella's castle, they should be able to have a bigger globe that isn't blocked by trees.

During Illuminations we were entertained by a drunk guest yelling out for more beer. I don't know what was funny about it, but we all got a good laugh at his expense.

The fireworks ended and we got ready for the Fourth of July add-on. Instead, the lights rose and the "Thank you for coming... Take small children by the hand" message came on. Dumbfounded, Linda and I looked at each other. "That is it?" as if being in the most magical place in the world wasn't enough, we wanted the extra bonus July 3 magic, for which there was none.

Somehow disappointed, we headed back to the boardwalk. As we were leaving we were entertained by a magician who juggled, rolled balls around the brim of his hat, and squeaked as he performed. He was very good.

We loaded into the van and were home in 14 minutes. That marks our first trip into a Disney Park for 2014.